Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Ok, as long as I get this up in less than an hour, I won't break my promise (again.) I think the rule is a remarkable document, it is what I have always thought. Not that I'm saying what I think is the gauge by which Vatican pronouncements are measured, it's just nice to know I was right all along! Dom, over on Betnett commented that people often talk about the many good and celibate gay priests, and how we have no evidence that they exist. He's write, the only evidence of gay priests that we have is the 400 in the U.S. that have died of Aids, and the multitude who abused young men. Neither of these groups can be called "good priests," as they broke their vows, and committed mortal sins. If there are good celibate priests who have a homosexual tendency, we will never know, because they do not flaunt their affliction. It is their own cross to bear. That is all for right now.Yours in Christ,Thursday

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

The rules on the ordination of homosexuals has been published. The document is almost exactly the same as the leaked version from last week. You can read the document at Betnett. I will post more on this later today.Yours in Christ,Thursday

I know World Youth Day was a couple months back, but I just found this short video that I thought I should post. It also gives me a chance to try and post video directly into the page, so keep your fingers crossed.

I found this on google today. It seems to end up somewhere in a grey area. It's a matrix spoof revolving around the pope. It somewhat reminds me of Eddy Izzard:

Lay person: Father, I have committed an original sin. I have poked a badger with a spoon. Priest: Well done! I've never heard that one before. You have indeed committed an original sin.Lay person 2: Father, forgive me for I have sin. I slept with my neighbors' wife. Priest: Heard it!

Well, you can see for yourself here.It is rated NE for "Not Yet Excommunicated."Yours in Christ,Thursday

Friday, November 25, 2005

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored better than half in Nerd, earning you the title of: Pure Nerd.

The times, they are a-changing. It used to be that being exceptionally smart led to being unpopular, which would ultimately lead to picking up all of the traits and tendences associated with the "dork." No-longer. Being smart isn't as socially crippling as it once was, and even more so as you get older: eventually being a Pure Nerd will likely be replaced with the following label: Purely Successful.

Thursday, November 24, 2005

TIA has posted their response to my letter, you can find it here(your will have to scroll down until they fix their site.) (UPDATE: They have fixed their site)

Here is my response to their response. Because they divided their response into numbered sections, I will follow their system.

1. “We did not know it, so we could not report it.”

I don’t really have a problem with this, if they didn’t know, I can’t expect them to report it.

2. “We acknowledge that you are convinced of your opinion, and we respect it. We hope you may also realize that your opinion is open to discussion.”

If my opinion is open to discussion, then discuss it. You cannot just say, “well, that’s your opinion,” and then leave it. If TIA can come up with another alternative for the music the Bishop Britt is dancing to, please let me know. Until then, because there has been no other option put forward we must accept our initial hypothesis as being the only option.

3. “You seem to confuse singing in honor of God and dancing in honor of God.”

I never mentioned singing, my exact words were: “Do you object to a dance that praises God?” The entire section on the difference between singing and dancing is immaterial.

“It is our conviction that a Bishop should be a model of Christ for his diocese. Now, Our Lord never danced.”

What evidence do you have that Christ never danced? Dancing was a large part of the culture, especially at weddings and other celebrations. We know Jesus attended at least one wedding, and to think that was the only wedding he attended in 33 years is absurd. “They [the apostles] died martyrs because they obeyed this command of Our Lord and opposed the pleasure-oriented pagan world that surrounded them.” Dancing is not exclusively pagan, so I do not understand the point of this argument.

4. “This opinion is confirmed by History where the rule for Bishops is not to dance. We are not aware of exceptions to this rule, but would like to know if any existed.”

By rule do you mean a written law, or just general pattern? If there is a written rule forbidding Bishop’s from dancing, I would like to see it, and wonder why you did not post it with the picture.

5. “This opinion is also confirmed in the Old Covenant, wherein God described in great detail all the ceremonies and rules the Levites should follow for His honor and glory, and, as far as we know, never mentioned dancing.”

The beauty of God’s law is that it is minimalist. Instead of listing everything we can do, it tells us what we must do, and what we must not do. If dancing is not mentioned, we can assume that it is acceptable.

6. “From these spurious sources, and not from the crystal waters of Catholic tradition, the post-conciliar Church assimilated the present day habit of dancing and shouting at religious gatherings…”

What is your proof for this claim?

7. “The example of King David dancing before the Ark does not apply to the case of dancing Bishops because he was a layman, not an ecclesiastic.”

In 2 Samuel 6:5 “And David and all the house of Israel were making merry before the Lord with all their might…” It does not say “all the house of Israel, except the Levites who were not allowed to make merry…,” but all the house of Israel. If this is not enough, Psalms 150:2-3 “Let Israel be glad in his Maker, let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King! Let them praise His name with dancing, making melody to Him with timbrel and lyre!” Again it does not exclude the Levites.

I don’t think there is anything else to add to this, there is nothing in the Word of God, or in the Traditions of His Church to forbid “dancing Bishop’s.”Yours in Christ,Thursday

I just checked out seven sorrows website, they have a new drummer now, who along with the two new guitarists they just got, completes the band. I have been waiting for this CD for awhile now, I'm really excited they can make it now. Go check them out, there music is great, and it's free!Yours in Christ,Thursday

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Previously I have posted on the website "Tradition in Action" (here and here). They have a section that they call "Church Revolution in Pictures," in which they post a new image each week that they think shows the decline of the Catholic Church post Vatican II. Well, I saw this picture, and read it's caption, and wrote a letter to them.

"On December 7, 2001, following the example of John Paul II, Bishop Kevin M. Britt dances at the National Catholic Youth Conference.

After being Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, he was named Bishop of Grand Rapids. "

My letter was as follows:Hello, I have been reading through your site for several months now, and have been tempted many times to write a letter to you, but this piece was the proverbial straw. You disapprove of Bishop Kevin M. Britt dancing (www.traditioninaction.org/RevolutionPhotos/A087rcDancingBishop), but you fail to mention what music he is dancing to. Just by glancing at the picture I can tell you the name of the song is either "Our God is an Awesome God," or "Yes, Lord." Those are the only two songs that have a dance with a "thumbs up," like the one shown in the picture. Do you object to a dance that praises God? If King David, God's anointed king for His people, danced and sang the praises of God before the Ark, why should you malign one of God's anointed shepherds for doing the same?

Well, their site says they published my letter and their response here, but it's not there (UPDATE: They have now posted their answer to my letter, but not my letter). (UPDATE2: My letter is now published.)I'm will be very interested to see what they have to say, and will post my response here when they do. (UPDATE: I will be addressing the points they made in a upcoming post.)Yours in Christ,Thursday

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

To wanting to be like Dr. House, even though I know he is rude, immoral, and mean.

To being a video game addict (I haven't played a game in about two weeks though, I'm going into withdrawal symptoms).

To being a procrastinator, I use blogging as my excuse for not getting any work done.

To having tastes far beyond my limited means. I like good scotch, I just can't afford it.

To having no idea what I'm going to do with a degree in Physics/Math.

To going to the local pub with friends at around 9 PM on Halloween, and leaving at midnight only to find that "Capitaine Grec," my only source of soberfying Poutine (french fries, cheese, and gravy), closed at 11 PM.

To not trying Poutine at first because it sounded disgusting.

To going to school in Quebec, and only being able to say one phrase in French. (My little Cheese)

To being sad at the thought of missing Thanksgiving with my family for the next four years.

One of my first posts was on The Matrix Vocations Poster. Well, I've been meaning to do a follow up on that entry, because there are a couple of new posters available now, I've just never gotten around to it (I know I'm lazy!). So here they are:

You can get your own copies of these posters and a couple others here.Just in case anybody is wondering, he is a real priest. In my opinion these posters are exactly what is needed to interest young men in the priesthood. So often we only see the stereotypical older priest who is timid and ignorant. These posters show young men who are willing to give their lives to God, and to Serve His Church. They show a priest who is a hero, a warrior against Satan. That is exactly what a priest is, a warrior. The sacrament of confession causes Satan extreme pain and suffering, and is only possible with a priest.I have my first vocation poster up on my wall, and it makes people think. This is an image that goes against the stereotypes they have been brought up to believe. In that little moment of doubt, God can creep in. In 1 Kings 19:11-13, we find that God is not in the Mighty Wind, or the Awesome Earthquake, or the Roaring Fire, but in the small voice. God only requires a small chink in the wall that society builds around the soul. Like the constant drip, drip, drip of water, He will bring those walls crashing down. (I know I've mixed about ten metaphors at this point, please forgive me.) I think that is all for right now.Yours in Christ,Thursday.

P.S. The website also have a very nice calendar with a picture of the saint of the day on each day.

Monday, November 21, 2005

I found this new blog, speculativecatholic, and I have to say it is excellent. It is very hard to describe exactly what the blog is about, so I will just use what others are saying about Speculative Catholic:"The geniuses at Speculative Catholic have found a new way to turn lemons into lemonade!" - Mark Shea" Speculative Catholic fuses science fiction and theology" - Lex Communis"A blog worthy of note" - Waffling Anglican

I will now add what I think of Speculative Catholic, and hope that he posts it on his brag-roll:

"The word, I fancy, should be 'pink'." - Thursday

I've added a link to the blog in the sidebar, so it will always be easily accessible to my readers.

The US took two gold medals (Counter-Strike and Halo 2), and one silver medal (Warcraft III) to be the number one ranked nation at the World Cyber Games. You can read the rest of the story (Man I feel like Paul Harvey!) here.

I've come across this on a couple of Rad Trad (Radical Traditionalist Catholics) sites. I think it has to be a joke, nobody has that poor an understanding of Physics. I'm also very surprised to find "Flat Earth" Theory on Rad Trad sites, as the Church never taught that the Earth was flat. The Church always went with Aristotle's teaching that the Earth was round. Granted Aristotle underestimated the circumference of the Earth considerably, leading Columbus to thinking he was in the East Indies. Flat Earth theory only came about after the reformation, when the Protestants started taking the Biblical description of the Earth in Genesis literally. So Rad Trads are now hanging out with Heretics, interesting.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

You scored as Maximus. After his family was murdered by the evil emperor Commodus, the great Roman general Maximus went into hiding to avoid Commodus's assassins. He became a gladiator, hoping to dominate the colosseum in order to one day get the chance of killing Commodus. Maximus is valiant, courageous, and dedicated. He wants nothing more than the chance to avenge his family, but his temper often gets the better of him.

Because everyone else is doing it (O.K., the only two groups I know doing it are Bettnet and Catholic Answers, but their everyone right?), I am starting a "frapper" map. It's nice to see a map of where the people who read this blog are from, who knows, maybe your next door neighbor reads this as well. So, come on give in to peer pressure!Stick a Pin in

I just looked over at my sidebar, and I saw that I was a "Lowly Insect" in TTLB. At first I thought "Woohoo, I'm moving up!" Then I checked out TTLB, to see how many steps I was up, and found I was a step down! I don't get it, my traffic has been up this week, but I lost a step. I'm not saying my traffic is very high, it's nowhere near "Bettnet", or "Shrine of the Holy Whapping" (check them out by the way, links are in the sidebar.), but it was high for me. Oh well, I guess I will just have to find more ways to lure people into my blog.Yours in Christ,Thursday,

Friday, November 18, 2005

Hail Citizens! (I've been watching way too much of the series Rome, so please forgive my nerdy classicalisms.)

Per request, I'm going to share some of my thoughts on Philip Pulman's series "His Dark Materials."(HDM) I will start by saying that this series is one of the most well written fantasy series of the last century, inferior only to "The Lord of the Rings", and "The Chronicles of Narnia." HDM is the foil of these other two series, even being called the "anti-Narnia" by some.

Pulman is an incredible storyteller; and as such, he knows that the only truly compelling stories are those of the battle between good and evil. Pulman has a problem though, he's an atheist. His books are set in a universe with no true God, no creator; however, his theme is still that of good versus evil. This is my first problem with the series, Pulman has put good and evil into a universe which cannot account for their existence. In the HDM universe, there is no objective truth that can account for some actions being evil, and some being good. There is no objective line that divides them forces of evil from those or good. In this book, thousands die for something that is just a feeling, something naturally evolved into us. This is totally different than Lord of the Rings, were good and evil are objectively defined.

My second problem is logical, ex nihilo nihil fit. In the HDM universe, "God" was created when matter became conscious of itself, and sought out other matter. When enough matter had come together, the first "Angel" was created, and he called himself "God." This idea is even more preposterous than the theory that if you pile enough stones together, eventually the pile will start to think, and become man (Darwinist evolution.) With this, we get the idea that a stone will randomly start to think, and that if we pile enough "thinking stones" together, we will make a man. Usually if you bring up "ex nihilo nihil fit," the first thing you will hear is some voice shouting "virtual particles." Virtual particles are sometimes called vacuum fluctuations, and are pairs of particles that form and then annihilate each other. I could go on for pages about the science behind virtual particles (it's really quite fascinating.), but instead I'll just say that we are arguing across terms. Virtual particles form out of vacuums in space-time, which is still something compared to NOTHING. NOTHING can not be fully comprehended, as we have no experience with it. NOTHING is what existed (or didn't exist as the case may be) before God created the Universe. I do have other problems with HDM, but I think I will leave them for another day, as it is late, and I am tired.Yours in Christ,Thursday

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

How could he let his knee touch hers! Did he not know that his knee had been consecrated by God, and that he was to lock himself away in the Cathedral's residence, only coming out to say Mass. Tradition in Action is definitely not a Catholic group.The plus side of their site is that it has an incredible collection of very nice photographs of the last several Pontiffs.

Basically, it's a program that runs in the background on you computer. While you work away, it works at factoring really big numbers to see if they are prime. I mean REALLY big numbers. The number I'm working on right now is more than 10,000,000 digits long, that's ten MILLION. My computer has been running this number since Sunday, and I have another 25 days to go. there website is here, give it a browse. Oh, did I mention that if your computer finds the first prime number with more than 10,000,000 digits you get about $50,000.00 US. Of course, it takes about a month on my 3.4 Ghz P4 w/HT and a gig of RAM to run one 10,000,000 digit number, so don't expect to find one right off the bat. Also, your odds of finding one are about 1:350,000. (With the steps passed on my number the odds are up to 1:200000.)

There is a new Catholic blog out there. I first met Joey at a message board for the "His Dark Materials" trilogy by Philip Pullman. In case your not familiar with the series, it's pretty much the foil of Narnia, aka "Narnia for atheists." I was doing apologetics there, and asked for help at Catholic answers, and Joey helped me out. Well, I should say after he started it was more me helping him out. So, Joey is now at Notre Dame, and I am incredibly Jealous. Oh well, maybe for Graduate School.So check out his blog Vox pro Domini.

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About Me

Hello, welcome to my blog. My name is Thursday. I am 21, I am just starting out into the world of photography. I love Christ, His Church, my Fiance, and feeling I get when I know I've taken a good picture.